Thanks bluemoon-175, vamptastic, and MoonShineMystery! You guys are awesome! Keep reviewing, please:)

Sorry I forgot the disclaimer… so…

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, or Twilight's characters. All I own is my plot.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Cullen's house was completely dark when I entered it. I felt my stomach lurch as I once again saw the empty piano bench.

I hadn't seen Alice again all night. I had no idea where she was, except that she definitely wasn't home; her car wasn't parked out front. I had asked Carlisle and Esme once about her strange behavior, and where she was, but they had once again eluded an answer.

I had the weirdest feeling that this wasn't some normal danger; or at least whatever 'normal' was, for vampires and me. Or maybe nothing was typical, but this was just even worse than whatever they were expecting. Because either way, they usually didn't keep secrets from me.

All right, fine. They always kept secrets from me. But still. If it had to do with my life, I felt that they should at least inform me.

Up the stairs. Into Edward's room. I felt like I was in a trance as I laid down on the couch, tried to snuggle in and breathe in Edward's heavenly smell. It was faint, but it lingered; and soon I had fallen into my dreams, the ones where Edward was there with me.

I woke up to the wind whooshing past and a terrible, pounding headache. I looked up and nearly screamed.

Emmett looked down at me, tight-lipped. He attempted a smile when he saw that I was awake, but it didn't seem to fit on his currently solemn face. "Hello, Bella."

Confused, I just smiled weakly back. And then I realized the source of my headache, and I did let out a scream this time.

Emmett stopped running. "All right, all right. Calm down. I'm starting again, okay?"

"No!" I started to say, but he didn't listen. We were off again. I forced my eyes open and saw that we were rushing through some sort of forest, but I definitely didn't recognize it. It looked like we were well out of Forks already, though I couldn't be totally sure. "Where are we?" I finally asked.

Emmett shook his head.

I was frankly getting sick of all the secrecy. I wanted to know what had happened to Edward and Alice! I had a feeling that I had been alone last night in the Cullen house, but what I didn't understand was where everyone had been. If I was in so much danger, shouldn't they at least keep watch on me?

"If it makes you feel any better," Emmett suddenly said, hesitantly, "Alice's vision isn't really about you. She made a mistake."

I felt like my heart had been sucked out of my ribs. Or maybe stuffed up my throat, because I could barely breathe, barely talk. "Who…is…it…?" I finally choked out, my voice raspy and unrecognizable.

Emmett seemed surprised by my reaction. He had probably expected that I be happy. But how could I be happy, when….

He didn't answer me.

When we stopped, I was almost afraid to look away from Emmett's face, for reasons that I didn't know. I concluded that I was silly and stupid, especially when I finally stepped down from his bulky arms and realized I was at a quaint little cottage, with a brick chimney and white roof and wraparound veranda, which looked like it sat in the middle of nowhere, surrounded on all sides by forest.

"Nobody knows about this place, outside of our family," Emmett warned me. "So don't mention it to anyone."

Even if I did mention it to someone, the cottage would be in no danger. I had absolutely no idea how to get there, or even where it was.

"You'll be staying here for a while," Emmett announced as we walked at a human pace towards the front door. Emmett had stopped running in the middle of the good-sized field that was in front of the house, fringed by woods. "Esme packed some clothes for you, they're on the bed in the main bedroom. Someone will come check on you every once in a while."

My cheeks burned as I stumbled on the front steps of the porch, and then more as I realized I had to ask him a question that would, pretty much, put a big red exclamation point at the end of "she's human". "Is there food?"

Emmett actually laughed. "The fridge and pantry are stocked. Esme went on a grocery spree."

With a pang I realized that Alice would probably have been the one who went food shopping, or any shopping, for me. Where was she, and what had happened?

Suddenly, Emmett looked serious. "Whatever you do, Bella, do not watch the television."

Oh, wow. There went my hours of entertainment. "Why not?" I asked stubbornly.

"Because" here he stopped to catch me where I had tripped over the doorframe. "Just don't. Carlisle wants you to be totally safe."

"From the TV?" I asked incredulously. "What's it going to do, eat me?"

Emmett sighed. "Bella, please."

I huffed. "All right, all right. But what else am I supposed to do?"

Emmett shrugged. "I think there's a computer. With high-speed internet." He winked. "I have to go now. Jasper and Rosalie will come by later to check on you, and Esme's nearby if you need her." He didn't mention Carlisle, and I didn't prod.

Two days later, and all I had done was surf the net and eat. True to their word, various members of the Cullen family had come to check up on me, mostly around mealtimes. Nobody mentioned Edward or Alice, and they didn't make any appearances.

It was night number two, and I had absolutely no idea what to do with myself. I was sitting on the couch, staring into space, when I heard a slight tap. I froze, stayed completely still. I barely let myself breathe.

The Cullens hadn't briefed me on whatever I was supposed to be hiding from, so how was I supposed to know that whatever was out there wasn't going to, say, bite me?

The tapping grew more insistent, but no louder. I finally got up, careful not to make the couch squeak, and tiptoed across the kitchen to the back door. I held my breath as I looked outside. I couldn't see; just a dark outline. I was pretty sure it was a person, but I couldn't tell if they were holding a knife or anything.

Against all my better judgment, I opened the door slowly. I had absolutely no defense skills, and I would probably tip over as soon as the enemy blew on me. But still;

Still, what? You are such a moron, I told myself. Don't open that door. But it was too late. The door was already open, and I was ready to flee.

An arm caught mine, and I screamed. The skin was pale, milky-white, and I screamed even harder; was this James, come back to haunt me? Or was it some other, completely unknown, vampire, come to suck my blood?

I tried to kick them and step backwards, but in doing so I lost my balance and fell against them. The vampire had on a dark cloak, and the hood was shading their features so I couldn't tell who it was.

The hand was still clutching my arm. I stumbled backwards into the kitchen area, and landed hard against a counter. It jabbed into my back, and I tried to scream again, but my voice was already hoarse.

And besides, the vampire had lifted their other arm and clasped it over my mouth. "You're a touchy-feely sort," I mumbled into the vampire's palm.

The vampire pulled me into the family room, where they sat me down on the couch and finally released me.

To my, and I'm pretty sure the vampire's, immense surprise, I didn't try to run again. I just sat there, shock-still, praying that someone was going to come check on me soon.

Yeah, right. Rosalie had just left about fifteen minutes before the vampire arrived.

And then, with me sitting there, staring straight ahead and trying not to panic, the vampire faced me and shrugged out of their hood.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Sorry for the short chapter, but I'm still not completely finished with the plot, so I'm just putting something out until I figure everything out. Ideas are welcome!